DerbyDad03 wrote:
Norminn wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:

A question entered my mind as I was sprucing up my utility trailer. I
removed the strap hinges and closure brackets, etc. so I could clean
off the rust, re-paint, etc.

There are lots of mating surfaces where rust was present on both
surfaces, such as the back of the hinge plates and the trailer
itself. I started wondering what would happen if I used a wire wheel
to get the rust off one surface, but not the other. (That's not my
plan, just my thoughts as I was working.)

All other things being equal (weather, moisture, etc) as they would
be, does the mere presence of rust on one surface make the other
surface more apt to rust?

The surfaces would have to be clean and not exposed to air or water in
order not to rust, right? A rusty metal coating would probably
encapsulate small amounts of residual rust and so exclude air and
water. Otherwise, rust will continue. Don't ask for
sources.......just my logic at work ) Now, if all rust is removed
but differing metals are in contact then I think you get
electrolysis. Never seen that, but it eats up some metals.

Now, if all rust is removed but differing metals are in contact then
I think you get electrolysis. Never seen that, but it eats up some metals.

I've seen it first hand. Back when the kids were babies, I had a Subaru.
I belted the car seat into the back seat and gave it a tug as I
always did. The seat belt bracket pulled right out of the floor.

The seat belt was bolted through the floorboard and into a plate on the
under side of the car. I can't tell you what the 2 metals were, but they
were definitely different. The plate pulled through the floorboard in
the exact oval shape of the plate. There was no other rust any where in
the area.

I took it all the way up to the regional manager for the North East with
no satisfaction since the car was out of warranty (60K miles on it at
the time). To them it was just a rust problem. To me, it was one hard
stop away from my kid flying into the back of the front seat.

Shoulda reported it on the NHSTA web site. I know smog stuff is covered
to 100k by federal edict, I thought safety stuff was too. Seat belt
mounting points tearing out of the pan definitely sounds recall-worthy
to me. Now that I think about it, I had an 83 Mustang where the
hardpoints for the front seat basically tore out of the pan, and the pan
cracked at a fold point. But I just blacksmithed a hillbilly repair
myself. (12 ga galvanized sheet metal plate over roofing tar, and peened
bolts with big washers, through all the layers. Crude, but effective.)

--
aem sends...